Introductory chapters provide the rationale for converting biomass to fuels; its importance to national security, balance of trade, and the environment; and insights into biological and catalytic processing to fuels. Also included are in-depth information on the chemistry and biology of cellulosic biomass, leading pretreatments to facilitate its biological and chemical conversion to sugars, and methods important to assess the effectiveness of biomass conversion technologies.

“The challenge is, and has always been, reducing the cost of breaking down cellulosic biomass into sugars and other fuel precursors that can be converted into products, and aqueous pretreatment plays a pivotal role for leading biological, catalytic, and thermochemical routes” Wyman said.